[ukaussi]

At the suggestion of TivoBill I am starting a thread to bring together those people who STILL have pixelation/audio drop out issues which occured after the 7.1 software update.

IMPORTANT:- I must clarify first that this does NOT include those people who get pixelation JUST when changing channels with a cable box (should be fixed with 7.1b). It is for those who get it whilst watching live TV or a recorded show etc.

Here is my setup:-

First, I do not have a cable box attached to this TiVo and the signal coming in is clear and strong from Cox cable.

When I received 7.1a-01 in late January my 40hr box (upgraded to 120hr) started to experience the following:-
- background flickers on and off with some minor pixelation when you are in the TiVo menus
- live TV pixelates/goes blank/sound drop outs (live TV is actually recorded TV with a short delay)
- recorded TV pixelates/goes blank/sound drop outs
- pixelation/drop out is random and if you rewing and playback it does not happen in the same place
- if I transfer a show from the problem box to another TiVo in the house the show plays back fine on the other TiVo

As I had upgraded the HDD myself to 120GB back in August I put back the original 40 GB HDD and the problems went away at first (prog data showed old pre 7.1 software version) but as I had to connect multiple times to get guide data etc it finally also downloaded and installed 7.1b after which it immediately started to pixelate etc.

So, my problem is not the hard drive it is something to do with software decoding of the data FROM the hard drive it would seem as when the data is encoded to the drive (recorded) it can be copied to another TiVo and played back without problems.

Who else has similar issues as I believe there are quite a few ?

Please also post the model of TiVo you have and what version of software you currently have.

Series 2 40hr
model # TCD24004A
SW version 7.1b-01-2-240

 

[mitchPond]

I'm having a similar problem. It doesn't sound like it's as frequent as ukaussi's problem, but it does always seem to pop up during the best parts of my favorite shows

I have the same setup as ukaussi; no cable box, the same TiVo hardware, original hard drive. It was perfectly fine up until the 7.1 update, which is when menu access slowed down and I started getting pixelation and sound drop outs.

Seeing as the hardware/software is the same, there's a chance that we have the same issue.

 

[Sk8man]

I am experiencing the same issues. No cable box, and pixelation occurs just every once in a while. Did not do this until after 7.1. Sound drops out too, you can go back and video is fine. Of course I also have the MAJOR slow down of menus too. I have a series 2 with a service number starting with 240. Oh and I still have 7.1a for software.

 

[indyrobb]

I have a 240 series Tivo with no Cable Box. Menu changes are very slow, however, the pixelation problems that others are seeing just started for me 2 weeks ago. It doesn't seem to be consistent in nature, but it happens during live TV and during recorded shows. As it was stated earlier, it's not in the same spot each time - rewinding and replaying doesn't give the same results.

 

[tone81]

I have a cable box in my setup and don't have the pixelation issues that are described here, but I wanted to add my case since I did have the audio dropout almost exactly as described here. Both Live TV and recorded, could go back and watch the same show fine at a later time. I had to exchange my last box. All started after getting upgraded to 7.1a. My new box is still at 5.3 so far no issues.

As a side note, my issues with audio drop out all seemed to start late afternoon early evening and progressively got worse. Next morning was when everything was fine again.

Good Luck

 

[ukaussi]

I have a cable box in my setup and don't have the pixelation issues that are described here, but I wanted to add my case since I did have the audio dropout almost exactly as described here. Both Live TV and recorded, could go back and watch the same show fine at a later time. I had to exchange my last box. All started after getting upgraded to 7.1a. My new box is still at 5.3 so far no issues.

As a side note, my issues with audio drop out all seemed to start late afternoon early evening and progressively got worse. Next morning was when everything was fine again.

Good Luck

What model box was the one you had the pixelation on and had to exchange ?

 

[tone81]

Sorry. Both were TIVO Series 2 model 540s.

 

[scotthemme]

I have the same audio issues with a Series 2 model TCD240040. Software I believe is currently at 7.1a and the problem started when it first updated to 7.x. I spoke to TiVo customer support and after some basic trouble shooting she decided that the problem was most likely that the new software was accessing drive sectors that the old software did not and therefore the problem was that my hard drive was bad. Gave me a case number with the option of trading this one in for a refurb at the cost of $79. Unacceptable. Seems to me that this is a bug, not a hard drive problem. I’ve been living with this on my secondary TiVo since February hoping that a subsequent update would fix the bug. No such luck so far.

Series 2 40hr TCD24004A
SW version 7.1a-02-2-240

 

[ukaussi]

I have the same audio issues with a Series 2 model TCD240040. Software I believe is currently at 7.1a and the problem started when it first updated to 7.x. I spoke to TiVo customer support and after some basic trouble shooting she decided that the problem was most likely that the new software was accessing drive sectors that the old software did not and therefore the problem was that my hard drive was bad. Gave me a case number with the option of trading this one in for a refurb at the cost of $79. Unacceptable. Seems to me that this is a bug, not a hard drive problem. I’ve been living with this on my secondary TiVo since February hoping that a subsequent update would fix the bug. No such luck so far.

Well, it absolutely is not a hard drive bug on mine and I think others. As previously mentioned I swapped my hard drive back to my original 40GB drive and my TiVo started doing exactly the same thing as soon as it downloaded and updated to 7.x

 

[bkloth]

I had the same problems with blacking out, freezing, audio dropping, etc., on the second or night night I had TiVo--this past Sunday or Monday. I am using a brand-new Humax T800. The problems occurred in both Live TV and recordings, and like others, the problems got worse as the night went on. However, the next day (and ever since), there have been no problems.

I checked my software last night and it is 5.3a. Unfortunately, I did not know enough to check it during the problem time!

Now I am crossing my fingers not to get upgraded to 7.1!!!

 

[RBurks]

Count me in with this problem...seems like I got them all with 7.1a

I have a 240 with a Comcast Motorola cable box. I can display to the TV a direct cable picture, a cable feed through the DCT and TIVO, and replay TIVO. I only get pixelation when replaying TIVO, though the picture quality is noticeably reduced when I go through cablebox/TIVO vs direct cable feed to TV.

I have tried every quality setting with NO IMPROVMENT on the pixelization problem. Where it is most noticeable is on fly fishing shows. The water pixelates to the point where I can freeze frame and count each block on the screen. They appear to be roughly about 10-15 pixels or so, and alwys they are longer than taller (I assume though the pixelization remains consistent with the aspect ratio).

Very very frustrating.

This on top of all the other goodies we got with 7.1.a - data guide problems, audio drop-outs/pixelization on channel changes, slow menus, failed calls, double button press, ...

Now days the first thing I do when I sit down is force a call to TIVO in hopes of getting the 7.1.b update in hopes of fixing some of this.

 

[scotthemme]

Checked my software version over lunch and it's 7.1a-02.... I went to the TivoToGo thing on the website where you can sign up for the TiVoToGo update and signed up for it so hopefully it updates soon and that helps the situation.

 

[scotthemme]

Well, it absolutely is not a hard drive bug on mine and I think others. As previously mentioned I swapped my hard drive back to my original 40GB drive and my TiVo started doing exactly the same thing as soon as it downloaded and updated to 7.x

Agreed. I don't believe it's a bad hard drive. I think it's a bug that needs to be fixed!

 

[scotthemme]

What does it take to get someone like TivoBill to chime in on a thread?

 

[ptenthus]

We have a Series 2 (240) with 7.1a as well as a NetGear wireless NIC (just as another data point). We do not have a cable box.

Once we got 7.1a we started getting the seemingly random picture freezes/pixellation and sound drop-outs. We also have seemingly random slow-downs in menu changes - though they are noticable, but never more than 2-3 seconds.

Here's hoping that 7.1b does _something_ to help.

 

[scotthemme]

Here's hoping that 7.1b does _something_ to help.

Amen

 

[oly]

I have been reading the various threads referring to problems with software version 7.1a for months. I too have been experiencing many of the same problems - slooow menus, recorded TV pixelations, sound drop outs - both of which have been random. Then this past week the video went blank several times during a 1 hour recorded show while the audio remained. I had NO problems prior to the version 7 upgrade - my Tivo worked flawlessly.

I have the following set-up:
NO cable box attached
Sony SVR 3000, series 2, 80 hour
Software Version 7.1a-02-2-110

I have not reported these problems to customer service due to the fact that they are being reported by several others. Tivo's reply to many others that it is a "hard drive problem" is not realistic considering the number of people who are experiencing the problems and had NO problems prior to the upgrade. I did unplug and restart my system several weeks ago and that provided some improvement in menu speed and helped to solve the fast forwarding issue however the pixelation and video drop out problems still remain.

Hopefully Tivo Bill will be checking out this thread since he recommended that it be started. I hope that Tivo address the issue soon since it is very frustrating for us loyal Tivo supporters. Until the upgrade I was SOLD on this product and highly recommended it to others - since the upgrade I cannot provide a recommendation until the problem is fixed. In hopes that the problems will be addressed I did pick up a second Tivo (for $99) which fortunately has not upgraded to system 7 (it remains at version 5.3)

 

[bookmang]

Same here. No cable box, 140 60hr, original HD. Random pixilization and audio dropouts during recorded and live programs. got a little bit better with 7.1b. Menus are back to normal with 7.1b.

everything was fine until 7.1a.

 

[ukaussi]

As previously mentioned above I switched drives and still had the pixelation issue.

What I didn't mention was that I had previously, back in February, been able to get rid of the problem for a few weeks but had forgotten how I had done it.

I tried the various options in the SETUP section of the TiVo menu including erasing ALL my season passes and all recorded shows as well as erasing all thumb ratings etc. I even tried a few options shown on a hack site that supposably allow you to reinstall your software on the other partition and another was to check the mfs, neither worked.

Reluctantly, I tried the final option which is the last on the list in the SETUP guide. This option is to "Clear and Delete Everything" **
I say reluctant as it takes 2-4 hours to erase everything before it starts the guided setup and you also lose EVERYTHING, just like if you bought a new unit. My guess (from an MIS tech's standpoint) is that it reformats a section of the drive as the disk activity is audible throughout.

**Anyone know for sure what this option does ?

Suffice to say, I left it overnight and in the morning I did the guided setup. This was Tuesday morning I believe and it has FIXED THE PROBLEM so far (fingers crossed) and is still ok this morning.

So, if you have a few hours to waste and don't mind redoing everything from scatch and losing all your ratings data then you could try this option. Maybe it will last until TiVo is able to determine the cause and resolve the issue.

 

[scotthemme]

So, if you have a few hours to waste and don't mind redoing everything from scatch and losing all your ratings data then you could try this option. Maybe it will last until TiVo is able to determine the cause and resolve the issue.

I did try this a couple months ago. The "fix" lasted about a week as I recall but eventually the static and audio drops came back.